"You have an African accent when you speak French"

Well, I did it. I spent a month in village, without leaving, without electricity. My fellow villagers seemed to appreciate it since I kept hearing, "you're not traveling?” "you haven't traveled lately, that's good", and "you have been in village for more than a week!"

When we are first posted in our villages, we are supposed to spend three months in village, without leaving, except going to our banking city for a night or two. I understand that better now. I was traveling a lot in my first few weeks at my new post and it made it difficult to integrate and enjoy my new home. After spending a month solid in village, I appreciate my friends, neighbors, and my house. Even though the kids drive me crazy and make my house dirty, I do miss them, and I do love them. They are so dirty but so cute. I get mad and annoyed but then I hear them calling my name and asking me where I'm going and what I'm doing, and with a deep breath, I can smile and laugh with them again.

It has been a while since I’ve written a blog, and there is a lot to catch up on. June was a busy and exciting month. I got to see three out of four sisters, my dad, and meet my new nephew. Meaghan and my dad came to Cameroon for a week. It was wonderful. It was a lot of traveling, but they were troopers. We spent a night in Yaoundé (the capital) at the Hilton Hotel. It was a vacation from reality for me. We took the train overnight up north to Ngaoundere and then went out to my village. After waiting for the car for hours, we left in the rain, but made it to village a couple hours later. When we arrived, all my neighbors came and greeted us. Dad was called “grandpere nasara” or “white grandpa.” I think he liked it. Meaghan was my “adda” (big sister in Fulfulde) and many people told me how beautiful she was. People are still asking about them.

We spent two nights in village, exploring the area and meeting many neighbors and friends. I did my best at translating between French, English, and Fulfulde, but there were some conversations, which were definitely lost in the wind. Dad was worried about breaking the cultural gender norms, and even stressed himself out about it! You can ask him for the story! Let’s just say, between Dad and Meaghan, I didn’t sleep through a night outside of the Hilton. Guess that just shows how nervous they were about coming, but they came anyways. I appreciate they came on an adventure with me.

We spent one night in Ngaoundere, my banking city and the regional capital. It is a very calm and nice city, with some good food. Meaghan and Dad ate some grilled fish and baton, and really loved it. After a good day in the city, we took the train back down to Yaoundé and went back to Hilton Paradise. We all had a solid night of sleep. We explored Yaoundé, a little, but I’m a small town girl and I am far from comfortable in Yaoundé. After swimming in the pool, blended coffee drinks, yummy pizza and a relaxing day, we took off for FRANCE!

I was watching movies, drinking free red wine, and actually enjoying most of the airplane food they gave us. Funny how your perspective changes after a few months of cous cous and sauce. Our flight arrived early in the morning and we anxiously waited for more sisters and my new nephew. They all looked exhausted after an overnight flight with a baby. We found our bags and headed to our hotel for the night. After a little relaxation, we set out to see a little bit of Paris. I was shocked at how expensive everything was. I would say everything was three times, or more, than Cameroonian prices. But, it was also so beautiful and clean. We ate some yummy French food and drank mojitos and red wine.

Even though we were all exhausted, I think we were all happy to be together and we wound up walking around Paris the entire afternoon. At dusk, Dad, Ann and I went up the Eiffel Tower; sad Mom was not there to see it with us. We made our way back to the hotel and found some to-go pizza next door. We found some red wine and M&M’s and had a feast with the World Cup playing in the background.

The next day, despite French Traffic Strikes, we found our train to Bordeaux. It was amazingly fast, smooth, and fancy.

I have a lot more to say about France, and my recent time in country, but I my neighbor and friend from village is waiting for me to go back to village and prepare for the Grande Fete de Ramadan! It has been so long since I posted on here, I felt the need to give something to my dedicated fans out there, aka my loved ones in MT. Miss and love you and I will add more when I come back to the city. All you need to know is I am here, alive, and happy. Village life gets better with time, and I am seeing potential for projects and work in the area.

For now, au revoir! Or, if you prefer Fulfulde, bahaouji (no clue how to spell it)! Or, as the kids are learning in village, see you later!